PREPROCESSING OF SWITCH PANEL AND SHEET METAL

OBJECTIVES :

To perform a mesh for the given two components under given quality criteria and assign thickness.

A. SWITCH PANEL MESHING PROCEDURE :

FIG 1 : IMAGE OF SWITCH PANEL IN A CAR

Import the file switch panel.igs file.

FIG 2: SWITCH PANEL FOR MESHING

1. CLEAN UP GEOMETRY :

1. Under mesh module change the perimeter length to 1mm and macros to 1mm.
2. Check the geometry for errors and correct it using commands like Faces> topo, delete, New . Also like Hotpoints > Insert, Delete. Errors like Triple cons, cracked faces, Needle faces are likely to appear. Auto fix works for most of the errors.
3. Measure thickness and assign PID\'s and Material ID\'s .

FIG 3 : CHECKS MANAGER DISPLAYING ERRORS

FIG 4 : MEASURED LENGTHS

2. MIDSURFACE EXTRACTION :

1. Manual MIdsurfacing using Faces > Offset is preffered because of more complicated features like ribs.
2. Using commands like Faces > Extend, Intersect , Delete helps in linking all the midsurfaces together .
3. Set PID\'s for ribs and other features seperately with measured thickness.

FIG 5 : MIDSURFACE OF SWITCH PANEL

3. MESHING

1. Assign Mesh parameters for Target , Min and Max element Length as 4mm , 2mm and 6mm respectively.
2. Assign the quality Criteria.

S.No	Quality Criteria	Value
1	Target/Average length	4
2	Minimum Length	2
3	Maximum Length	6
4	Aspect	3
5	Warpage	15
6	Skewness	45
7	Jacobian	0.7
8	Minimum Quad Angle	45
9	Maximum Quad Angle	135
10	Minimum Tria Angle	30
11	Maximum Tria Angle	120
10	Tria Percentage	15

• Use the Best Mesh command for the entire part . Seperate the component into several parts using Faces > Cut for best results.
• Use reconsruct , smooth to achive proper mesh flow.
• Under HIDDEN view correct the quality errors using Elements > Split , swap , Delete.

FIG 6: MESHED GEOMETRY IN HIDDEN VIEW

• Under Quality Criteria > Presentation Parameters Tab select Draw shell as solid check box to view thickness.
• Release the Elements.

NOTE : The component took 7 hours for completion.

FIG 7 : FE ELEMENTS OF SWITCH PANEL

LINK FOR SWITCH PANEL : https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yY_ItCbUbJUKZLgRMk4Zosh2xPigs6jI

B. SHEET METAL COMPONENT :

Import the component.igs file.

1. CLEAN UP GEOMETRY :

1. Under mesh module change the perimeter length to 1mm and macros to 1mm.
2. Check the geometry for errors and correct it using commands like Faces> topo, delete, New . Also like Hotpoints > Insert, Delete. Errors like Triple cons, cracked faces, Needle faces are likely to appear. Auto fix works for most of the errors.
3. Measure thickness and assign PID\'s and Material ID\'s .

FIG 1 : CLEANING GEOMETRY

2. CHECK FOR SYMMETRY :

1. Faces > Cut the entire plane about the symmetrical axis.
2. Rm.Dbl command under Topo module > Faces is used to check symmetry .
3. Delete the one side of the component since it is a symmetry.

FIG 2 : SYMMETRY OF COMPONENT

3. MIDSURFACE EXTRACTION :

1. Manual MIdsurfacing using Faces > Offset .
2. Using commands like Faces > Extend, Intersect , Delete helps in linking all the midsurfaces together .
3. Set PID\'s .

FIG 3: MIDSURFACE CHECKED FOR GEOMETRY ERRORS

4. MESHING :

1. 1. Assign Mesh parameters for Target , Min and Max element Length as 4mm , 2mm and 6mm respectively.
   2. Assign the quality Criteria.

SNO	Quality Criteria	Value
1	Target/Average length	4
2	Minimum Length	2
3	Maximum Length	6
4	Aspect	3
5	Warpage	15
6	Skewness	45
7	Jacobian	0.7
8	Minimum Quad Angle	45
9	Maximum Quad Angle	135
10	Minimum Tria Angle	30
11	Maximum Tria Angle	120
10	Tria Percentage	15

• Use the Best Mesh command for the entire part . Seperate the component into several parts using Faces > Cut for best results.
• Use reconsruct , smooth to achive proper mesh flow.
• Under HIDDEN view correct the quality errors using Elements > Split , swap , Delete.
• Under Quality Criteria > Presentation Parameters Tab select Draw shell as solid check box to view thickness.
• Release the Elements.

FIG 4 : MESHED COMPONENT

• UTILITIES > TRANSFORM > SYMMETRICAL is used to copy the mesh about symmetrical axis.

FIG 5 : TRANSFORMED COMPONENT

• Delete the unwanted Hot spots and cons while retaining the clean mesh.
• Under Quality Criteria > Presentation Parameters Tab select Draw shell as solid check box to view thickness.
• Release the Elements.

NOTE : The component took 4 hours for completion.

FIG 6 : MESHED SHEETMETAL COMPONENT

LINK FOR SHEET METAL COMPONENT : https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zKEI9TMWXayjJdRY33k5B2tjQe07hTjI